"PRIDE 19 - Bad Blood" Review
1. Tom Erickson vs. Tim "Obake" Catalfo - Pretty fast fight with Erickson not even
going toe-to-toe with the smaller and older Catalfo. Instead "Big Cat" used a hard slam and
dominated on the ground and got a mean-looking choke on from behind, putting it in the bag. My
prediction was accurate with an Erickson win late in the first.
2. Wallid Ismail vs. Alex Steibling - They cut to the third round due to time
constrants and things look interesting. Steibling looks really good with interesting strikes
and groundwork. A tired and bloody Ismail struggles in Steibling's guard, until the final round
ends. Steibling wins by decision, funky hair and all and again my decision is dead on.
3. Carlos Newton vs. Jose "Pele" Landi - An awesome fight with each man showing their
strengths fully. Newton struggles to get Pele down, but finally does and the excitement begins.
Landi, always game, makes some great escapes and then delivers some hard shots. Newton
some how gets him down and locks an armbar and gets the tapout. Pele displays his lack of
sportmanship, while Newton cuts a promo in Japanese. Again my prediction was just right with
Pele fending off Newton's matwork, until he can no longer.
4. "Ice Cold" Igor
Vovchanchyn vs. "Texas
Crazy Horse" Heath Herring - Quickly goes to the mat care of Herring, which surprised
me. Igor is bloodied, but makes his escape, then the Russian gets a few takedowns and mounts.
Back up, more see-saw fighting and back to the mat. Herring goes for a kimura, Igor rolls free,
Herring goes for a high mount, Igor forces a standup and then gets the back, Herring escapes...
a great first round! The second round is a rest round with Vovchanchyn on top and chipping away
with punches with little action. The third round, sees Herring on top and actually drops an
illegal headbutt. They restart it, but as often happens, they go back to the same position.
Igor is bloodied and his left side is bruised as the round comes to Herring looks in better
shape. A really even one, but Vovchanchyn is more dinged up, thus Herring wins via unanimous
decision. I was wrong on this one and saw a totally different fight than what I expected, but
agreed with the decision.
5. Antonio "Minotauro" Noguiera vs. Enson Inoue - After being put on 2 year probation
for stuff I won't get into, Inoue looks to get a huge win here. Noguiera uses a butt-scoot
unsuccessfully early. Inoue is caught in an entangled kimura, but impressive brutes out, then
gets a mount and punches away. Noguiera reverses it and puts Inoue through Submissions 101,
Inoue really shows his escape skills. Finally the champ locks on his signature Triangle
Chokehold and Inoue goes out. I picked the Noguiera, though I thought Inoue could take it the
distance, he choose to give us an exciting fight.
6. "The Axe Murderer"
Vanderlei Silva vs. Kiyoshi Tamura - Hot crowd for this one as Tamura is a mega-star
from the defunct RINGS. Silva gets the takedown and works over Tamura, whose nose is bloodied
horribly. Tamura escapes and shows some quick movement, but is taken down and beaten on some
more with "bunches of punches." The first round ends and Tamura looks horribly. They start #2
exchanging kicks, before Silva gets him down, sustaining a cut along the way. Back standing,
Silva tags him on the chin and sends him down. Tamura's fighting spirit was displayed well,
the Middleweight champ is just unstoppable though. I called this one and am 5-1 thus far.
7. Don Frye vs. Ken Shamrock - A big money main event with some nice pro-wrestling
hype and this is a career match for both men. They just go to the clinch and it's a boxing
match for the most part. Frye's shots are significantly stronger and Shamrock seems stumped on
what to do. He finally rolls and grabs a foot. Frye fights it off and its an interesting
ground fight as the clock counts down. Shamrock appears to have damaged Frye's leg somehow.
They go back to the clinch, Shamrock looking really gassed and Frye not really doing much. The
third round will be the tell-tale round apparently. They tease the clinch again, Frye steps
back though and they start swinging. Shamrock goes down and Frye pounces, but appears too tired
to finish him off. Finally Shamrock shows a burst of energy and gets on top, dropping
backwards, looking for a leglock. Frye slips out partially and then they both grab anklelocks
and it's a nail-biter til the buzzer. They are both totally blown up, but embrace to a huge pop
as the decision is pending. Judge 1 - Don, Judge 2 - Ken, Judge 3 - Don! Don Frye wins a
close match that NEEDS a rematch. Shamrock hugs his girlfriend(?) Alicia (the former Ryan
Shamrock) and heads to the back. Frye apologizes for things he said, for not training harder
and says he thinks his ankle's broken. Good fight, sayonara.
I would regard this as one of the best Pride FCs I have seen. Surprisingly this did not do
huge business, it was an excellent show though and a great way to kick off 2002. Considering
the worst match was so because it was one-sided and wasn't bad at all. The match average was an
awesome 3.5 and considering they only showed part of Steibling-Ismail and cut out Matsui-Gracie
may be a good thing. This show had a good length and the fights were good-to-excellent,
certainly a must for an MMA fan.
Rating: **1/2
Rating: n/a
Rating: ****1/2
Rating: ***1/2
Rating: ****1/4
Rating: **3/4
Rating: ***1/2